Caniçal (parish)

This small and solitary parish (freguesia) lies at the far eastern end of Madeira. It is a village of poor fishermen, set between the sheer cliffs that separate it from Machico and the capriciously indented, rugged ground that forms the point of São Lourenço (‘St Lawrence’). It may be said to be cut off from the rest of the island, even though the ocean does not divide it, because communications are so difficult. Only in cases of extreme necessity, and only when the state of the sea rules out the sea route, do people travel to the neighbouring parish of Machico, along a narrow footpath cut into the cliff, which is at times sheer and always strewn with the most hazardous and imminent dangers. The inhabitants spend their lives between the toil of fishing, their chief occupation, and the tilling and cultivation of a few plots of land. They live far below even a modest level of comfort, and when a storm breaks and towering waves lash the coast, preventing work at sea, poverty and hunger enter many households and parade there their whole train of horrors. They are a peaceful and orderly people, accustomed to the happy calm of that isolation and tranquillity. They know nothing of the comforts and conveniences of populous centres and so do not envy the pleasures and attractions that such places, where bustle and pleasure hold sway, offer to fortune’s favoured few.

The origin of its name must be the same as the one we have suggested for the parish of Caniço (‘reed’), and in adopting it we do not think we stray far from the truth. The original nucleus of settlement in this parish ‘comes’, says Dr Azevedo, ‘from the settled estate (fazenda povoada) in the locality so called (of Caniçal), which belonged to Vasco Martins Moniz, who died in 1510; by his will of 5 September 1489 he made it an entail (morgado) in favour of his eldest son Garcia Moniz, who was lord of Caniçal and founder of the church of the lugar (settlement ranking between a town and a parish), in the first quarter of the 16th century’.

Older than Vasco Martins Moniz, but perhaps still his contemporary, was João Teixeira, third son of the discoverer Tristão Vaz Teixeira, the first donatary of Machico. Of him Gaspar Frutuoso says: ‘... he was a great hunter and fond of the chase, and for that reason he had in the town of Machico a hunting reserve (coutada) of his own at Caniçal (‘reed bed’), so full of game – rabbits, partridges, peacocks and many wild boar – that it is said to have been the best hunting reserve in all Portugal. This is suggested by a letter which is still kept today in the Council of Machico, written by King Manuel I to its officers, in which he earnestly charges them to keep strict watch over the hunting reserve of the sons of the first captain, and to let no one enter it, because he had been told and assured that, should he happen to come to the island, there were no other lands in which he could hunt and chase game but this one of Caniçal and the fields of Santa Catarina’.

Although the chronicler’s words seem to us somewhat exaggerated, we must nonetheless believe that the hunting reserve was of some importance, and the lands that made it up still bear the name of Terras de João Teixeira (‘João Teixeira’s lands’) today.

Caniçal is the oldest of the small parishes on this island. Its isolation and the difficulty of communication with the neighbouring settlements, even more than the number of its inhabitants, made the creation of the parish (freguesia) advisable. This took place around 1561, for at that time the couples living there would not even have numbered 15. The royal decree (alvará) of 12 September 1564 set the annual salary of the parish priest at 14,300 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis). It was successively increased by the decrees of 24 November 1572, 10 September 1589, 22 October 1592 and 31 August 1609, after which he received an annual stipend (côngrua) of 24,000 réis in cash, one moio (dry measure of grain, 60 alqueires) of wheat and one pipa (wine cask and measure, c. 400–500 litres) of wine. Given the population, this was a higher salary than that of other vicars, which was justified by the poverty and isolation of the place. We know that between 1590 and 1660 the parish priests here were Fathers Amador Caldeira, António Ferreira de Quental, Matias Catanho and Vicente Luís.

The seat of the new parish was established in the chapel of São Sebastião (St Sebastian), founded by Garcia Moniz in the first quarter of the 16th century. Around 1594 the same chapel was enlarged or rebuilt, but the earthquake of 1748 left it in such a state of ruin that a contemporary witness says that there is no remedy but a new building. The foundation stone of the new church, the present one, was laid on 9 June 1749, and it was solemnly blessed on 13 December 1750. It was built on a site some distance from that of the first church, which still keeps the name of Sítio da Igreja Velha (‘old church’).

This parish has the chapel of Our Lady of Pity (Nossa Senhora da Piedade), picturesquely set on top of a hill and leaning out over the waters of the ocean. It was built on Monte Gordo (‘fat one’), or Monte da Piedade, 4 kilometres from the parish church. This is the moment to mention the unusual procession that is held every year to this chapel. The religious procession leaves the parish church and heads for the beach, where it boards several brightly decorated boats. Closely followed by a considerable number of small sailing craft, it sails to the foot of the hill, where it lands; then comes the arduous climb up the steep slope, ending finally with entry into the small, solitary chapel.

Much of the land in this parish (freguesia) lies uncultivated because irrigation water is scarce. It lacks springs of drinking water and no streams cross it. The author of the Saudades, doubtless referring to a period long before the one in which that book was written (1590), says the following:

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To water the sugar cane in this town (vila) (Machico) and for Caniçal, a levada (irrigation channel) was brought from so far away that from the place where the water rises to the town it is four and a half leagues or nearly five, on which more than a hundred thousand cruzados were spent, because it comes through great mountains and deep ravines; and they say that in building it two peaks of hard rock were bored through, there being no other remedy. Raphael Catanho, a Genoese, with the great spirit he has, like almost all foreigners and above all those of that nation, was the first to begin bringing this water, and afterwards the King ordered it to be completed: and, because of the great cost it entailed, it is no longer used. To this passage of Frutuoso, Father Fernando Augusto de Pontes adds, in his interesting book Excursões na Madeira: “this is the very levada that supplies water to the quinta (country estate) of Palheiro Ferreiro (‘blacksmith’s barn’)”. It seems that in former times this parish was notably wooded, and even today, to the north of it, some woods are found, perhaps remnants of the ancient forests.

Within the bounds of this parish lie the well-known Fossils, one of the places of greatest interest that this island offers to the observations of naturalists. We refer to them elsewhere (see Corpos Calcareos da Piedade).

São Lourenço point, with its adjacent islet, where a lighthouse and a telegraph and semaphore station are installed, deserves fuller treatment, which we shall give in a separate article.

Between the village and São Lourenço point lies the interesting and picturesque bay of Abra (‘bay’), no less extensive than that of Machico and very rich in fish. There was once a plan to build a harbour of refuge and a naval arsenal there, and some studies to that end were actually carried out in the first quarter of the 19th century.

On this side of the bay, that is, between it and the village, lies a small beach called Prainha, much visited by holidaymakers who spend the hot season in the town of Machico. It is the only sandy beach on this island, and lies at the head of a small, picturesque cove. The old church stood near it, and today preparations are being made to build salt pans there.

Apart from the inhabited part, this parish is in general very mountainous and its terrain is extremely rugged. Among its hills or peaks are Penedo do Saco, Junqueiro, Lagedo, Cancela, Judeu, Dragoal, Tojal, Facho and Castanho, the summit of the last rising to more than 600 metres above sea level. Pico da Cancela is an extinct crater, and from its surroundings one can see Ponta de São Jorge and the island of Porto Santo; it is on this height that the cape or point of São Lourenço truly begins.

The main localities are Banda do Silva, Serrado do Marmeleiro, Entre as Aguas and Banda de Além.